ENG 101 Stretch, spring 1999: Semester plan and outline



ENG 101, spring 2003:

Semester plan and Writing Project assignments

This semester, I'm going to ask you to complete three formal writing projects and two "reflective letters.”

Before we get started with the formal Writing Projects, we'll spend several class days reviewing some of what we did last semester, especially in how we might go about complicating or problematizing a question or issue or problem. Then we'll discuss some of the basics of rhetoric (we started this last semester): how humans use symbols (like language) and how we can use /words and other symbols to get our message and ideas across to a particular audience in a particular situation at a specific point in time.

The first Writing Project (WP#1) asks you to construct what we call a “classical argument” about what you see as a solution to a problem.

The second Writing Project (WP#2) asks you to construct an informative analysis, in which you outline what you think are the compelling issues in the scenario, and to explain (in detail) why.

As you’re working on WP#2, I'll ask you to construct a partway-through reflective letter, where you'll reflect on and discuss all the work we've done so far in this class.

The third Writing Project (WP#3) asks you to select a question, issue, or problem from the scenario that perplexes you and to analyze it and to take a stand on one aspect of that problem or issue. This project also has a research component, where you'll go to the library and look on the Internet and interview others about your topic. Here, of course, you’ll build on the work you did for Writing Project #2.

All Writing Projects ask you to focus on texts in terms of comparing, analyzing, and synthesizing their information--tools you'll need in ENG 102. In school and in your future life and career, any communication (whether oral or written) must deal with the rhetorical aspects of what you're trying to get across to a particular audience at a specific moment in time, and this project will help prepare you for that work; these Writing Projects ask you to really think about and consider what it means to "meet" the criteria of an assignment from a rhetorical perspective

Finally, I'll ask you to construct an end-of-semester portfolio that will focus on a longer and more complex and detailed reflective letter, where you'll again discuss everything we did over the course of the semester

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ENG 101, spring 2003, Writing Project #1: Classical Argument

Over the past 2500 years, many scholars have offered definitions of the term "rhetoric." For this project, consider three definitions of the term:

1. Aristotle: "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion" (Rhetoric I, ii, 26-27).

2. John Genung: "the art of adapting discourse, in harmony with its subject and occasion, to the requirements of a reader or hearer" (The Practical Elements of Rhetoric. Boston: Ginn, 1886, 1).

These definitions, offered by two well-known rhetoricians, point to some of the factors that writers need to consider to be rhetorically effective. First, all three note that writers need to bridge any gaps that exist between readers and themselves. In this project and in subsequent ones in this course and in the next course (English 102), we'll ask that you spend lots of time discussing your projects as they develop. Through this ongoing dialogue, you will learn more about what your readers need and want if they are to understand what's on your mind. The first two definitions of "rhetoric" also suggest that there are diverse settings and purposes for writing, each presenting writers with different demands. Remember that rhetoric isn't just using words to create the effect you want in an audience, but also the study of how those words "work" . . . as if we learn how something works, then we can use it not only more easily but also more effectively the next time we face a similar situation, a similar audience, and so on.

Writing Project #1 (WP#1) (see page 267) will be a persuasive essay from one of two perspectives:

• someone who has purchased guns from the Maple Plains Police Department and who wants to continue to do so

OR

• someone who thinks their city should not be a gun merchant.

Your essay should outline the situation, as you see it, in Maple Plains (drawing on what other communities are doing) and work to convince the town that your ideas are correct. The format you’ll use is the classical scheme of argument, which we’ll discuss in detail, in class.

Sources: you need at least two (4) sources for this project, to quote from to help expand your base of information about the topic you're focusing on; these can come from our text, and/or from your outside research. You need to cite your sources parenthetically ( ) and also to have a works cited page for your paper.

Due dates:

Group statements due Thursday, 2/6

Group presentations at the Open Meeting on Tuesday, 2/11

Note that your participation in the group statements and open meeting is part of your in-class writing/participation grade

Writing Project #1 version 1 due Thursday, 2/13 (6 copies)

Writing Project #1 final version due Thursday 2/27 (15%)

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English 101, spring 2003: Writing Project # 2:

Constructing an Informative Analysis

The writing project:

For this assignment, you’ll work with a scenario—a fictional, but real-life situation: here, you’ll focus on the issues involved in the “Living Will” scenario.

This scenario touches on any number of issues and problems and perspectives—moral, ethical, and legal:

• Does some definition of “abortion” fit this situation? How about “euthanasia”? “Mercy Killing”?

• Is it ethical to keep someone “alive” so that her child can be “harvested”? Or do those terms even apply to this situation? How do you define the terms that swirl around this situation?

• Should an unborn fetus be kept alive even against the specific (and perhaps legal) wishes of its mother? Why?

• What are the moral issues involved? The religious issues? The legal issues? Why are they important? How do they apply to the situation?

• How legal is Helen’s living will?

• What role should family members play? Doctors? Nurses? The CED?

This is your opportunity to decide which issues are important, explain what they are, and detail how they apply. What’s at stake here, and why should it matter?

Rhetorical Considerations:

Rationale for the project: Before we can really get a handle on and understand many complex issues, we have to determine “what’s at stake”—what the real issues are. This writing project gives you the chance to determine, outline, and explain what you think are the important issues, in the scenario.

Audience: Mercy Hospital’s Committee on Ethical Decisions (CED), who also struggle trying to decide what is really at stake in the “Baby Johnny” situation.

Length: the length of your paper depends on your own interpretation of your rhetorical situation: what information do you need to provide to CED, to get your message across?

Sources: you need at least four (4) sources for this project, to quote from to help expand your base of information about the topic you're focusing on; these can come from our text, but at least one must come from your outside research. As always, you need to cite your sources parenthetically ( ) and also to have a works cited page for your paper.

Due dates:

• Group statement due Thursday, 3/6

• Group presentations at the open meeting due Tuesday, 3/13

Note that your participation in the group statements and open meeting is part of your in-class writing/participation grade

Writing Project # 2, version 1 due Tuesday, 3/25

Writing Project # 2, version 2 due Tuesday, 4/1 (6 copies)

Writing Project # 2, final version due Thursday, 4/10 (20%)

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ENG 101, spring 2003: Partway-through reflective letter

The Project

This assignment asks you to construct a "partway through the semester letter,” where you discuss your change (and, we hope, your growth) as a writer over the course of the semester. The "rhetorical considerations" section and others below provide more detail, but the idea here is to both explore and demonstrate in what specific ways you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills as you "wrote your way" through the first part of this class.

Rationale for the letter & critique

Following this assignment handout, you will find a draft Outcomes Statement that composition faculty from all over the United States have constructed. The purpose of this document is to specify the kinds of knowledge and skills that students should acquire by the end of the first-year composition sequence. Because only some of that knowledge and some of those skills will be evident in any given project that you complete for the course, you need to provide a sampling of all your work in this course to demonstrate what you've accomplished as a reader, writer, thinker, learner. In general, this letter provides you an opportunity to illustrate how make informed choices as a writer. The Outcomes Statement also is something you can “lay against” the text and scenarios approach—that is, how well does what we’re doing in class help you understand and be able to enact the goals and objectives of the class?

Rhetorical Considerations

One purpose for this letter is to demonstrate that you have acquired rhetorical knowledge. Second, you should also demonstrate that you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills. Third, you should demonstrate that you know how to use composing processes. Finally, as the outcomes statement suggests, you should demonstrate that you have gained further control over conventions of written language, especially by showing in your compositions what you are doing . . . and why you're doing it (that is, what's your rhetorical purpose?). So: what can you give me copies of (Research Logs, drafts, comments, commented-on papers, invention activities, etc.) and comment on to show what you've learned?

The Project

To complete this letter and the final portfolio for this course, you will need to save your written work throughout the semester--invention work, drafts of projects, "final" versions of projects, the post-composing reflections on each project, journal entries, written peer responses, and the like. While you do not need to submit all of your written work with your letter, you do need to submit copies of whatever you consider necessary to demonstrate that you have accomplished the goals specified in the attached outcomes statement—that is, cite yourself.

For your letter, you need to be as detailed as possible, using examples from your Writing Project #1 as well as the other work we've done to illustrate your growth as a writer, what you've learned from the invention, peer review, and other activities, and from the final "production" of the first writing project. Your letter should also include a paragraph or two in which you look to the future, commenting on how you plan to use your rhetorical knowledge and your composing skills in your academic, professional, personal, and/or civic lives.

Due dates:

Initial draft (for peer revising workshop) due Tuesday, 3/11

Final edited version due Thursday, 3/13 (5%)

English 101, spring 2003: Writing Project # 3:

Constructing a persuasive analysis

The writing project:

For WP#2, your informative paper defined, explained, and outlined what you see as the key issues in the Living Will scenario—that is, what is “at stake” in the situation. Here, you want to use that same information to explain to and convince the CED on what actions they should take.

Rationale for the project: This will give you the opportunity to build on and expand your thinking with what you learned when you wrote the informational analysis for WP#2—that is, you’ll already have a great deal of information (some of which you used in WP#2) and this is your chance to select one viewpoint and take a position on some aspect of the situation.

Audience: we might know a little about your topic, but you're on the way to becoming an expert . . . so help us see why you find it interesting, what's unusual about it, what made you select it, what we ought to know about the subject (and why we need to know it). You also want to explain with facts or statistics or testimony or evidence why your position is the correct one, and why we should adopt your ideas. (Your audience will be specified in even more detail as we work through this scenario.)

Length: the length of your paper depends on your own interpretation of your rhetorical situation: what information do you need to provide to us, to convince us that your approach/ideas/position is the correct one?

Sources: you need at least six sources for this project; two (2) must be outside sources (outside means they cannot come from our textbook), to quote from to help expand your base of information about the topic you're focusing on. As always, you need to cite your sources parenthetically ( ) and also to have a works cited page for your paper.

WP#3 version 1 due Tuesday, 4/22 (6 copies)

WP#3 final version due Thursday, 5/1 (25%)

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ENG 101, Spring 2003: Final reflective letter

This final semester project is a reflective letter that discusses your change (and, we hope, your growth) as a writer over the course of the semester. The "rhetorical considerations" section and others below provide more detail, but the idea here is to both explore and demonstrate in what specific ways you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills as you "wrote your way" through the first part of this class.

Reflective letter overview:

The final Reflective letter is a cover letter that discusses your change (and, we hope, your growth) as a writer over the course of the semester. The "rhetorical considerations" section and others below provide more detail, but the idea here is to both explore and demonstrate in what specific ways you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills as you "wrote your way" through this class.

Rationale for the letter

Following this assignment prompt, you will find a draft Outcomes Statement that composition faculty from all over the United States have constructed. The purpose of this document is to specify the kinds of knowledge and skills that students should acquire by the end of the first-year composition sequence. Because only some of that knowledge and some of those skills will be evident in any given project that you complete for the course, you need to provide a sampling of all your work in this course to demonstrate what you've accomplished as a reader, writer, thinker, learner. In general, this letter provides you an opportunity to illustrate how make informed choices as a writer. The Outcomes Statement also is something you can “lay against” the text and scenarios approach—that is, how well does what we’re doing in class help you understand and be able to enact the goals and objectives of the class?

Rhetorical Considerations

One purpose for this letter and critique is to demonstrate that you have acquired rhetorical knowledge. Second, you should also demonstrate that you have further developed your reading, writing, and thinking skills. Third, you should demonstrate that you know how to use composing processes. Finally, as the outcomes statement suggests, you should demonstrate that you have gained further control over conventions of written language, especially by showing in your compositions what you are doing . . . and why you're doing it (that is, what's your rhetorical purpose?). So: what can you give me copies of (Research Logs, drafts, comments, commented-on papers, invention activities, etc.) or cite to show what you've learned?

The Project

To complete this reflective letter and critique of this course, you will need to save your written work throughout the semester--invention work, drafts of projects, "final" versions of projects, the post-composing reflections on each project, journal entries, written peer responses, and the like. Rather, you need only submit copies of whatever you consider necessary to demonstrate that you have accomplished the goals specified in the attached outcomes statement.

For your letter, you need to be as detailed as possible, using examples from your writing Projects #1 and #2 as well as the other work we've done to illustrate your growth as a writer, what you've learned from the invention, peer review, and other activities, etc. Your letter should also include a paragraph or two in which you look to the future, commenting on how you plan to use your rhetorical knowledge and your composing skills in your academic, professional, personal, and/or civic lives.

Due dates:

Initial draft (for peer revising workshop) due Thursday, 5/1

Final edited version due Tuesday, 5/6 (10%)

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Goals and Objectives

The composition program at ASU supports the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and Writing Program Administrators (WPA) outcomes for first-year composition students. The goals and objectives we have developed from these outcomes are provided here to help teachers better understand what materials and knowledge students will be expect to acquire in first year composition. Since learning to write effectively is a complex task that requires lifelong practice, any composition class should never be seen as "the" course that will make the student an effective writer. Rather, any writing class, including our first-year courses, should be seen as a step toward gaining the strategies necessary to engage in that practice.

Rhetorical Knowledge

First-year writing courses will focus on helping students develop and use a rhetorical framework to analyze writing situations, in a number of ways. Students will learn how to

• use heuristics to analyze places, histories, and cultures

• be aware of the components of argument and create their own arguments in conversation with other members of their discourse communities

• synthesize and analyze multiple points of view

• use a variety of argumentative strategies to write for a variety of audiences

• express a working knowledge of key rhetorical features, such as audience, situation, and the use of appropriate argument strategies

• adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality

• use conventions of format, structure, and language appropriate to the purpose of the written texts

• be able to focus on a specific rhetorical purpose

Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing

One of the key goals of our first-year writing courses is to provide students with strategies to gather, analyze, and write about issues that are important to specific audiences in specific contexts. Students will learn to

• work with demanding, non-fiction readings and learn to interpret, incorporate, and evaluate these readings

• develop and support an argument that is convincing to a particular audience.

• explore the multiple facets (ideological, social, cultural, political, economic, historical) of issues and to use writing to construct informed, critical positions about these topics

• engage in a variety of research methods to study and explore the topics, including fieldwork as well as library and Internet research

• write empirical, historical and cultural analyses of issues of social relevance

• conduct inquiry-based research and writing which is driven by the desire to study a cultural phenomenon and asks "what kind of research needs to be done in order to understand this issue?"

• analyze differing cultural and historical perspectives on issues so as to encourage students to understand that multiple perspectives of an issue are in operation at the same time. This analysis will help students to broaden and enhance their own perspectives on these issues

• ascertain the significance of situation in adopting rhetorical strategies in their writings and readings

• identify the kind of ideological work a text undertakes and how it serves to persuade readers to accept a particular account of an issue as accurate and effective

• pursue an issue across projects in order to understand the complexity of the issue and to make connections between empirical, historical, and cultural aspects of an issue

• use writing as a way of thinking through topics and ideas

Processes

First-year writing courses will focus on the writing process and will ask students to engage in a variety of practices to research, develop and write their projects. During the course of the semester, students will learn to

• propose, plan, and undertake research projects that involve a number of writing activities that build toward a final project that meets the audiences' needs

• interact with texts as they read and re-read, by underlining, taking notes and commenting in the margins, in order to arrive at a strong reading that supplies a starting point for writing

• write and revise drafts and integrate feedback into their writing

• engage in collaborative work at a variety of levels (research, invention, writing, etc.)

• better respond to audiences by revising work based upon feedback (peer response, teacher conferences) from others

• discuss readings, writings, and other kinds of research with others and use those discussions as brainstorming, invention, or revision exercises

• respond to their classmates' work and learn how to supply effective peer editing feedback. Peer response techniques include group workshops, class discussion and examination of content, organization, syntax and mechanics

• actively participate in class discussions about readings and writings

• engage with instructor, peers, and other members of the writer's audience in order to better understand and meet their needs and goals as readers

Conventions:

First year composition strives to teach students to analyze the writing conventions of different discourse communities and to begin to write effectively within these communities. Throughout the semester, students will learn to:

• understand the ways that different discourse communities have different strategies for conveying information, for researching information, and for evaluating and analyzing information

• employ a variety of organizational tactics

• learn how to deploy supporting evidence

• analyze what audiences' expectations about conventions are and to address them in critical ways

• understand the ways that information technologies aid and change writing conventions

• examine the conventions of empirical, historical, and cultural writing conventions and to analyze and question those conventions

• effectively integrate a variety of sources into their writings

• use grammatical and mechanical conventions of a variety of discourses in appropriate ways

• learn and use at least one system of documentation responsibly

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